Jolie makes ‘Salt’ a tasty flick (4/5)

Salt

Starring: Angelina Jolie, Liev Schrieber, Chiwetel Ejiofor
Directed by: Phillip Noyce
Rating: PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action.
Running time: 1 hours, 40 minutes

You may think I’m not a big fan of action movies because car chases and explosions are much more likely to put me to sleep than they are to stir me into an adrenaline-crazed frenzy. Also, I have a standing disdain for any casting director absurd enough to cast Vin Diesel or Dwayne Johnson (formerly “The Rock” — because tough nicknames make up for a lack of talent). But truthfully, I demand a certain level of intellectual integrity that most mainstream action flicks seem to sorely lack (“xXx,” anyone?).

Thankfully, there’s no need for “Salt” to be put on anyone’s “guilty pleasures” list.

CIA officer Evelyn Salt (portrayed by an exemplary Angelina Jolie) finds herself accused of being a Russian spy and detained by her coworkers.

Desperate to find her German nationalist husband, Mike Krause (August Diehl), who has gone missing in an apparent link to the accusation, Salt employs her intelligence and fighting know-how to escape from her fellow agents and track her husband down, all the while proclaiming her innocence.

With Salt’s identity in question and a mountain of evidence piling up against her, Salt is tracked by fellow agents Peabody (Chiwetel Ejiofor) and Ted Winter (Liev Schreiber), who has also grown to be a friend of Salt’s. But for a CIA agent, loyalty to country exceeds loyalty to friendship and her coworkers are forced to examine the facts.

Just as Peabody has no idea of what Evelyn Salt is capable, the audience, too, has no idea of what Phillip Noyce is capable. “Salt” is a heart-racing jaunt with fantastic action sequences and a plot that will keep you on your toes (or at least the edge of your seat) helped along by the moderately quick running time of an hour and 40 minutes.

Many reviewers have compared “Salt” to a mixture of the Bourne trilogy and the James Bond films.
But Jolie turns the action genre into her own plaything and absolutely owns every moment of her screentime.

I’ll admit that I predicted part of the ending about halfway through, but that didn’t hamper my enjoyment. I also think that most viewers will be left guessing ’til the end — there are plenty of twists to keep even the most seasoned moviegoers scratching their heads.

Angelina Jolie is the epitome of the female action star and she never ceases to amaze me. Her beauty, power and commanding aura have only grown with her.

But what was really excellent about her role as Salt is that her undeniable sex appeal is greatly toned down to a point where it’s hardly noticeable. And that allows you to focus on what’s actually going on rather than be distracted by the smoke-and-mirrors, peek-a-boo nudity that so often peppers action movies.

“Salt” isn’t entirely realistic and will leave you with a few questions when the credits start to roll. But it’s engaging and interesting and has some of the best acting so far this year.

Plus, don’t you just want to know if she’s a Russian spy or not?

4 of 5 stars

‘Inception’: Plan to see it twice (4/5)

Inception

Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Ellen Paige, Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Directed by: Christopher Nolan
Rating: PG-13 for sequences of violence and action throughout.
Running time: 2 hours, 28 minutes

If you’ve seen the previews, then this next point shouldn’t be much of a surprise: “Inception” is a mind-bending experience and is definitely a movie to watch twice. It’s nice to see original ideas again.

Dreams themselves are odd things to consider. They’ve long been seen as images from our subconscious — a mysterious force inside us that seems to know when we’re stressed and always conveniently knows what our biggest fears are (and, too, our deepest fantasies).

Director Christopher Nolan took the idea of random, internal thoughts and images to a new realm — a controllable arena in which your deepest secrets are vulnerable to the trained intruder.

Leonardo DiCaprio stars as the tortured Dominic Cobb with a dark past. Cobb is an expert in the art of extraction, or the ability to retrieve information out of others’ dreams. A man approaches Cobb with an offer — implant an idea into another man’s mind, and Cobb will be reunited with his children.

But implanting an idea is much harder than retrieving one — in order for an idea to stick, the dreamer must believe it is his or her own, organic thought.

Cobb assembles a team to help him break into the guarded mind of business heir Robert Fischer (Cillian Murphy, “Red Eye”). He joins together with architect Ariadne (the fantastic Ellen Page, “Juno”) and research leader Arthur (Joseph Gordon-Levitt).

A trick to Inception is to know who is dreaming and, therefore, who is in control. Also important is whose dream you are entering, because their subconscious could sense and attack you.

What makes entering Fischer’s mind so much more difficult is the use of sedation and the dream-within-a-dream stages. Also, Fischer has been trained against such interlopers, and so must be convinced to lower his guard.

The imagery of “Inception” will raise this movie above many others. Zero-gravity fights, dream building and imaginative scenarios will keep you amazed. But what will keep you invested is the story of Cobb and his wife, Mal (beautifully played by Marion Cotillard).

Leonardo DiCaprio proved long ago that he was more than just a pretty face (“Gangs of New York” and “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape” are simply fantastic films), and though he’ll always be haunted by the memory of his blockbuster role as “Titanic’s” dreamboat Jack Dawson, DiCaprio has managed time and again to pull out amazing performances. His portrayal of the tortured Cobb is worthy of admiration.

I have to commend Joseph Gorden-Levitt. I’m used to seeing his charismatic personality shine through in his early works “Third Rock from the Sun,” “10 Things I Hate About You,” and, more recently, “(500) Days of Summer.” But his restrained role as Arthur demonstrates his desire (and, more important, his ability) to build on the more serious side of human emotion (his part as Rex Lewis in “G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra” was a good jumping off point for him in this aspect, even if the movie itself wasn’t great).

“Inception” is wonderfully refreshing and a great example of thought-provoking film. The visuals are astonishing, the characters are memorable and the actors are superb. This is easily one of the best movies of 2010 — but looking at what’s come out so far, there hasn’t been much competition.

4 of 5 stars

‘Predators’ fun; script ‘horrific’ (3/5)

Predators

Starring: Adrian Brody, Topher Grace, Alice Braga
Directed by: Nimród Antal
Rating: R
Running time: 1 hour, 46 minutes.

When the director’s name is Nimród, maybe your expectations shouldn’t be too high.

Nimród Antal directs “Predators,” a sequel of sorts to the late ’80s, early ’90s franchise that kicked off with Arnold Schwarzenegger as his typical self being hunted by tall, ugly, dread-head aliens with superior weaponry and camouflage that would fluster a chameleon.

This time, instead of the Predators coming to Earth, a motley crew of battle-hardened soldiers, a death row inmate and a doctor are dropped onto an alien planet.

Handily, they’re all dropped with weapons intact.

The group glues itself to Royce (Adrien Brody), the tough ex-Black Op agent with the giant gun. Before long, Royce determines that the planet they’re on is a game preserve, and they’re the ones being hunted.

But it’s Isabelle (Alice Braga), the sole female representative, who realizes that they’ve been chosen because they are the “monsters” of Earth and are themselves predators, hunting other people and showing little humanity.

“Predators” is pretty solid entertainment, especially if you’re into action flicks. But if you’re looking for anything that even faintly resembles a decent attempt at characterization, this isn’t for you.

Predictably, the group is whittled down one by one. Also predictably, you don’t find yourself caring about the character’s deaths much, only waiting for the next one to occur.

The sense of isolation and despair the movie tries to get across is hampered by this lack of attachment to the characters. What personally kept me invested was the hope that every moment may be the last for the inmate Stans (Walton Goggins), who was probably thrown in for comedic effect but came across as simply shallow and obnoxious instead. And Hanzo, the Japanese Yakuza assassin, was overwhelmingly pointless save for a hokey sword duel.

Although I am an enormous Adrien Brody fan, I wish he’d stick with the more mental spectrum of films. The thought of Brody conjures up images of a thin, pale actor, not a muscular action man.
Though lately he’s been trying to change his image, as seen in his interest in playing the Joker in “The Dark Knight” and through his role in the science fiction “Splice.”
Anyway, back to “Predators,” the plotline itself is relatively interesting but the script is just horrific. As I mentioned earlier, “Predators” was made for entertainment, not to change anyone’s life.

Arguably the most engaging character is Noland, the certifiably crazy former U.S. Air Cavalry soldier, played by Laurence Fishburne. Schizophrenia and paranoia at their best.

Another notable performance is Topher Grace (Eric Forman of “That ’70s Show”) as the doc, Edwin. You’ll question this character’s reason for existence all the way to the end, and maybe even beyond it. Despite that, Edwin gives the comedic aspect somehow lacking in Stans’ role.

The Predators themselves are fun to watch and very reminiscent of the originals. There’s also a money shot of a Predator tearing out a man’s spine and skull (it’s rated R for a reason). They look cool and kick some serious butt. Not to mention their Grade A weaponry and camouflage.

Overall I’d say the Predators remain in contention for the top of seriously awesome movie monsters. Whether Hollywood can figure out how to surround these hunters with worthy prey is another matter.

• • •

Although “Inception” comes out tomorrow, it has already been getting some rave reviews. There’s a lot of hype surrounding this movie, and while I normally try to ignore that, the latest Christopher Nolan flick may actually live up to it. Are you going to see “Inception?” Send your thoughts on it to rcrofut@fltimes.com by next Tuesday and look for my review in next week’s JumpStart.

3 of 5 stars

‘Daybreakers’ definitely not for the squeamish (2.5/5)

Daybreakers

Starring: Ethan Hawke, Sam Neill, Michael Dorman
Directed by: Michael and Peter Spierig
Rating: R for strong, bloody violence, language and nudity.
Running time: 1 hour, 38 minutes.

If you’re into gore (and I mean of the head-bursting, artery-gushing, limb-tearing, blood-everywhere variety), then “Daybreakers” may be for you.

Not that the latest from the Spierig brothers is absolutely overrun with appetite-killing sequences (for the most part), but what there is of them will make those weak at stomach wish for a more tame flick — and a bucket.

“Daybreakers” has a pretty strong and interesting premise. In 2019, a disease pandemic has transformed most humans into vampires (the technicalities of this are, oddly, left fairly vague, leaving it up to the audience to simply go with it). As these vampires used to be human, their worlds and social systems remain largely familiar to us.

Less than 5 percent of the human population — the main food source for the vampires — remains, and the vampires face a total deprivation.

When left without blood for long periods, the vampires turn into “subsiders” that resemble the bat-like, degenerate, wild creatures featured in many horror films.

Ethan Hawke (“Staten Island,” “Lord of War,” “Snow Falling on Cedars”) stars as Edward Dalton, lead hematologist at blood production company Bromley Marks run by Charles Bromley (Sam Neill, who will forever remain to me as Dr. Grant from “Jurassic Park”). Edward is tasked with finding a blood substitute to amend for the loss of humans.

Although Edward works for a company that hunts and “farms” humans, he refuses to drink human blood himself and offers to aid the stray human he comes across; however, Edward’s brother, Frankie (Michael Dorman), is a human hunter who doesn’t understand his brother’s unvampiric ways.

Edward is sought out by Lionel “Elvis” Cormac (a traditionally salty Willem Dafoe) who has discovered something better than a simple blood substitute — he has discovered a cure for vampirism.

The plot itself is freshly exciting and holds undertones of our country’s oil dependency. And the scenes that demonstrated the vampire’s seamless maintenance of our current necessities and enjoyments are wonderful and engaging.

I really loved the idea of this movie, and for the first half, it seemed like the directors did, too. But then they decide that having a good plot wasn’t adequate — they needed to show the audience exactly how much blood is in the human body and how crazy of a mess it can leave when it’s all over the place. In the meantime, they completely forget everything that made the first half an actual decent movie.

Other than the disease’s origin, another overlooked plot point is how the vampires initially took to killing and, in a sense, eating humans. After all, they had been humans, too. Edward’s attitudes hint at this type of remorse, but there’s hardly any philosophical undertones akin to Louis’ in “Interview with the Vampire.”

“Daybreakers” is a promising movie that sadly devolves into a typical gore fest. It’s good for cheap thrills and quick entertainment, but doesn’t hold much lasting potential.

2.5 of 5 stars

Puzzling, cliché ‘Legion’ a letdown (1.5/5)

Legion

Starring: Paul Bettany, Lucas Black, Adrianne Palicki
Directed by: Scott Stewart
Rating: R for strong, bloody violence and language.
Running time: 1 hour, 40 minutes.

“Legion” is one of the biggest disappointments this year — and that’s saying a lot.

From undeveloped characters to a predictable plot and plain bad scriptwriting, “Legion” fast became its own worst enemy.

This Scott Stewart film just couldn’t decide what it wanted to be. A horror? A drama? A thought-provoking look into human nature? A mess?

Well, it got that last one right.

I’m all for fresh writers in the caught-on-repeat Hollywood scene, but maybe Stewart’s and fellow co-writer Peter Schink’s untested writing abilities are partly to blame.

Idealistically, fresh writers bring fresh ideas. But too often, they end up falling back on awful movie clichés.

The moment any movie character threatens “the child,” I know there’s no recovery. Unfortunately for “Legion,” that’s pretty much how it opens.

Predictably, it’s all downhill from there.

It’s got an interesting premise. God is fed up with humanity, and so he sends his angels to eliminate the lying, greedy, selfish homo sapiens.

But Archangel Michael (Paul Bettany, who by himself is one of the few reasons to watch this movie) believes that God has it all wrong and that he just needs a little persuasion to see how awesome people really are. In the meantime, he must protect an unborn child from certain death at the hands of the angels.

A rundown, isolated desert diner — aptly named “Paradise Falls” — is the unlikely location for the standoff between Michael and God’s right-hand angel, Gabriel (Kevin Durand, who was incredible as the baddie in “Lost” but just lacks any depth here).

The diner is owned by Bob Hanson (Dennis Quaid, who must have been hard up for work) and his son, Jeep Hanson (a flat-as-a-pancake Lucas Black). Yes, his name is Jeep. That ought to tell you something about this film right there.

Jeep is smitten with the very pregnant and adoption-minded Charlie (Adrianne Palicki), who is staying with the father and son duo and helping out at the diner.

After Michael comes and informs Charlie that her unborn child will somehow save the world, the diner is put into lockdown (helped along with the atmospheric loss of power). The group faces several unearthly “creatures” that come to kill them, including a matronly grandmother figure who spider-crawls up the walls and the local ice cream truck driver whose jaw is bigger than John Kerry’s.

Other than the Hansons, Charlie and Michael, there are a handful of other diner fighters. But, frankly, they’re hardly worth mentioning. Except to note that there is really no reason for Audrey to exist much less to dress in the most revealing clothes that side of the Mississippi.

“Legion” is full of unanswered questions that are more the result of writers block or shoddy planning than the mayhaps hoped-for intention of intellectual design.

For one, if God wanted everyone dead, why did he have to use subterfuge to accomplish it? How do guns kill angels? And what happens to the angels when they “die?” And why couldn’t the angels enter the diner? And what happened to everyone outside the diner? And why do the angels act more like hellbound demons than messengers from God? And why did I watch this movie again?

“Legion” fails at everything it tries to accomplish. It’s not scary (and I am quite possibly the easiest person in the world to scare), it’s not insightful and it’s not interesting. Jeep, presumably the main character, has absolutely no development, an IQ of perhaps 20, and is quite frankly very obnoxious.

The ending worries me a little. Stewart and co. clearly left “Legion” open for a sequel. I’ll consider recommending Stewart to sainthood if he doesn’t try to push through a “Legion II.”

1.5 of 5 stars